Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)

Album: Backstreet Boys (1996)
Charted: 2 2
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Songfacts®:

  • This pop ballad was written by British-born and Sweden-based songwriter Herbie Crichlow and Swedish producer Max Martin. It was one of the first hit singles for both songwriters.
  • Crichlow started writing this song on the bus to the studio. He recalled to Genius: "I had a fight with my wife, and it just kind of hit me. I ran into the studio, and I was like, 'Martin, I've got this idea. I've got this song, and we have to go do it, now!' We ran downstairs and basically, the song was written in about 25 minutes."
  • This was the closest The Backstreet Boys had to a chart-topper on the US Hot 100. It peaked at #2, being prevented from reaching the summit by firstly "Mo Money Mo Problems" by The Notorious B.I.G. then "Honey" by Mariah Carey.
  • The group performed this on Saturday Night Live in 1998.
  • The music video was shot at Howard Middle School in Orlando, Florida, and is mostly angst-ridden expressions and plenty of abs. In 2017, the guys called it their most embarrassing clip. "We're all beefed out," Nick Carter told Entertainment Weekly.

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